Giver Epilogue: The True Paradise
by M.C. Castle
Summary: At the end of the story, Jonas either died or made it Elsewhere. This is a short epilogue of him making it Elsewhere. Please R&R!


I hope you enjoy this short epilogue! I don't own any of the characters in this story, except Yolanda and Carmen.

Jonas heard wonderful sounds. He saw miraculous light everywhere he looked. He sped by the beautiful things on his sled, with Gabriel under his shirt. He felt so warm now, as opposed to the cold he had felt before. He took Gabe out to see the brilliant sights around them. Jonas and Gabe sighed together. Never before had they seen something as amazing as this. Jonas looked around, and saw a familiar sight: the house. The place where he belonged. The true embodiment of love and family. He turned his sled over toward it. The sled stopped right by the doorstep.

As Jonas walked inside, an old woman sitting on a couch smiled at him. "Welcome home, Jonas," she said. She wore a light blue and white sweater, and had her gray hair was tied back into a bun. There was a knitted rainbow blanket covering her legs. Her eyes were a magnificent light blue. "I know you have many questions, and I'm willing to answer all of them. But first, sit down by the fire and have some hot cocoa. You must have been freezing with just that shabby tunic on. And the baby…he must be tended to as well. Caleb," she said, motioning to a boy sitting by the fire who looked about five, "put little Gabriel in the crib. And give him some warm blankets from the drier. Get Jonas some hot cocoa, too. Thank you, dear." As the boy went to put Gabe in the crib, she turned back to Jonas, who had a surprised look on his face.

_Caleb,_ he thought. The name sounded familiar. Then he realized it. Caleb was the male Four that had been lost in the river.

"I can see you already know who Caleb is," the old woman said.

"Yes," said Jonas, "Caleb…he was a young male. He died when he fell into the river. But then, how is he here…?"

"Yes, it is very confusing, isn't it?" sighed the old woman. "You see, Jonas, your Community isn't real. There isn't actually anyone living there. Rather, it is a shadow of them. Their real selves are here all along. When their shadows die, their real selves are brought to life here. Elsewhere, as you call it." Caleb came back in after putting Gabe in his crib. He handed Jonas a cup of hot cocoa. "Caleb's shadow lost its life in the river. Now his real self, the one that you see now, is here. It is the same, as well, with all the other Communities. Do you understand?"

"I think so," said Jonas, sipping hot cocoa. He thought for a while. "Wait a minute," he said finally, "if people only come here when they die, does that mean…?"

"No, Jonas," the old woman said, "you are not dead. You see, there are a few people living in that Community of yours that aren't shadows. They look like shadows, but they aren't. You are one of them. Gabe is another. And the Giver, he was another of them. They all have a defining trait: pale eyes. You see, they can't die there. That is why you made it here. You had to, or you would've been stuck there."

Jonas nodded. Then he remembered something else. "But Rosemary," he said, "she had pale eyes as well. And she was released!"

The old woman smiled. "That's what you were led to believe. But Rosemary was a smart young girl. She studied the memories before getting released. She found out that Elsewhere was the only place for her. So she went to get released. When she injected herself, she pretended she was dead. The injection couldn't really kill her, you see. When they sent her down that chute, she got right up and left. It was the perfect cover. And that was why her memories got released into the shadow Communities, just as yours were."

"So Rosemary's here now?" Jonas asked, finishing his hot cocoa and putting the mug on the coffee table next to him.

"Yes," said the old woman. She turned her head and called, "Rosemary! Come in here, please."

A tall girl, in her early twenties it would seem, walked into the room with a mug of what appeared to be hot cider in her hands. She was wearing a homemade Christmas sweater and blue jeans embroidered with snowflakes. She wore hot pink lipstick. Her hair was light brown, and it went down to her hips. She had her hair tied into a ponytail at the top with a light pink ribbon. Her eyes were the same stunning pink as the ribbon. "What is it, Grandma?" she asked.

"Rosemary," the old woman replied, "this is Jonas. I'm sure you know about him."

The girl smiled. "Of course I do," she said. "You're the new Receiver, aren't you?"

"Yes," replied Jonas, "or rather, I was. Rosemary, are you really the Giver's daughter?"

"I am," she said.

"But I don't get it," said Jonas. "If the Birthmothers are also shadows, then how do they give birth to real people?"

"Simple," Rosemary replied. "The Birthmother was also a real person."

"Oh, I see," said Jonas, finally understanding. But then he remembered something again. "But the Giver! He's trying to teach them feelings!"

"He won't succeed," said the old woman, remaining perfectly calm. "Eventually, he'll give up and escape to come here. But once the new pale-eyed child, the female Five, gets the memories, she'll become the Receiver, and the whole process will start over again. This has happened twice before. It's perfectly okay, Jonas. The shadows will be slightly stirred by the memories, but they'll soon return to their old style of life. They'll die or be released, then come here, as who they truly are."

"So this process is never-ending?" asked Jonas.

"Exactly," said the old woman. "It's been happening since the origination of Sameness."

"Then what of the people I've come to love?" Jonas asked, though he knew the answer.

"They, too, will come here," Rosemary spoke this time, "and they will be just as you remember them, except with the ability to love. Well, I must be off. I hope you enjoy your stay here, Jonas." And with that, Rosemary walked off into another room.

Jonas looked down the hall. Though the house looked small on the outside, it was rather large on the inside, with a hallway that seemed to stretch for miles. "This house is so big!" he said finally.

"It is, yes," said the old woman. "It was built like this."

"Did you build this house?" asked Jonas.

"No," she said, "it was here when I first came."

Jonas looked at her light blue eyes. Without color, they would be pale. "So you were a Receiver, too?"

"Not just any Receiver, Jonas," she said. "I was the first Receiver ever. I vaguely remember the world before Sameness, even without the memories." She sighed. "So gorgeous…"

"How did you get the memories if you were the first Receiver?" Jonas asked.

"I caught them," she said. "They were everywhere before I cleaned them up."

"And when you were done," said Jonas, "you got released, but nothing happened, right?"

"Yes," she said, "so I went where I knew I had to go: Elsewhere."

"And so here you are," said Jonas, sinking into a chair next to the couch the old woman was on.

"Here I am," repeated the old woman, "and here I've been, for the last 5000 years or so."

"You're serious?" asked Jonas. "You're 5000 years old?"

The old woman laughed. "I am," she said, "though age doesn't wear you down as fast when you're here."

"I see," said Jonas, smiling. "I don't believe I know your name yet," he said suddenly.

"My name is Yolanda," said the old woman, smiling back, "but you may call me Grandma, just as everyone else here does."

"Grandma," said Jonas, "will the cycle ever end?"

"I'm not sure, Jonas," she said, sighing. "But the reason the cycle remains is so we can live in peace here. Their world balances ours. We can't go back there. Their world is closed to us now. We remain here. But this is truly paradise. They will feel it soon, don't worry. Their world is just temporary."

Jonas sighed. "Okay," he said, "but I'd still like to try think of a way to live like this without the shadow Communities. It would be a lot easier if one of my friends were here to help, though…"

All of a sudden, as if on cue, the Giver stepped through the door, covered in from head to toe in snow. He was shivering, since he was wearing the same robe he had worn on the day they first met. He smiled when he saw Jonas, though.

"Jonas!" he said, laughing. "You made it!"

"Giver!" said Jonas. He got up from the chair and hugged his old friend.

"Jonas, where are we?" asked the Giver, looking around.

"Sit and talk with Grandma, Giver," he said, motioning to Grandma. "She'll tell you everything. And after you're done, come with me. I need some help with something. Grandma," he said, turning to Grandma, "where is my room?"

"You get to choose one," she said. "Whichever one you like best."

Jonas smiled. "Thank you, Grandma. See you later, Giver."

Jonas walked down the hall, and looked into room after room, until finally, he found one he liked that was unoccupied. It had a bed just the right size for him, with elegant red sheets. This reminded him of the first color he ever saw: red. There were all the necessities: a desk, with a strange machine on it; a nightstand, with another strange, larger machine on it; a closet, with several different articles of clothing in it; and a large oval mirror on the wall. Jonas looked into the mirror, a thing he hadn't done in over two years. With all color intact, he could see what he really was: a boy with light-green eyes and dark blond hair. He smiled at himself in the mirror. He finally had the ability to do as he pleased, the ability he hadn't had in the Community of shadow-people that he had left behind. He walked over to the nightstand, and saw that the machine on it was labeled 'television'. He picked up a smaller, handheld device labeled 'remote', and switched on the machine. A picture came onto it. He sat on his bed and watched. There was a person with a strange device on the screen. He talked into the device about the events happening in Elsewhere. He hit a button on the remote, and the picture changed. There were several other things on the television: moving pictures that seemed to be drawn by people, people playing strange games, and many other things. He used the remote to turn of the television, and decided he would watch some later. He put on one of the shirts in the closet, walked out of his room, and then went down the long hall to a balcony outside. There were people sitting at round tables, talking and laughing, discussing and chatting. He stood on the balcony, under the moon, looking at the stars in the snowy sky. A girl about his age came to stand next to him. "Beautiful, aren't they?" she said, as she gazed at the stars and sighed.

Jonas was surprised. "Oh, yes, they are," he said.

She held out her hand, and said, "I'm Carmen. Nice to meet you."

Jonas was at first confused, but then figured out what to do. He shook her hand and said, "Nice to meet you too, Carmen. I'm Jonas." He got a better look at her. She was about an inch shorter than he was. She had brown eyes and wore a blue-and-white striped coat with a knee-length yellow skirt. Her hair was short and red. This reminded Jonas of Fiona, his old friend.

"Um, are you okay?" asked Carmen. Jonas didn't realize he had been staring at her hair.

"Oh, I'm fine," he said. "You just reminded me of someone, that's all. Sorry."

"It's okay," Carmen said, smiling. "So, Jonas, did you just get here?"

"Yes, I did," said Jonas. This girl just kept amazing him! "How did you know that?"

"I could tell by the way you looked at the stars in the snow," she said. "All newcomers do that, usually. If not, they're asking everyone questions and nonsense like that. Just stick with me, and I'll show you the ropes of this place."

Jonas nodded. "Thanks, Carmen. Do you think I'll like it here?"

Carmen shrugged. "Everyone does," she said casually. "It just takes some getting used to. But don't worry, you'll fit right in in no time."

Jonas looked at her again. "Carmen," he said, "you look about as old as me, so you couldn't have been released, and you have brown eyes, so you can't be a Receiver. Plus, I don't recall anyone named Carmen dying. So how did you get here?"

"I'm from different Community than you, I guess," she said. "My shadow-self was lost when I fell off my bike an broke my neck." She shuddered. "I still remember the pain. No one was around, so no one heard me crying for help. I slowly and painfully died. It probably wasn't until the next day that anyone found me."

Jonas felt sorry for her, even though it was her shadow-self that died. "So how long ago was that?" he asked finally.

"Two years ago," said Carmen, "when I was a Ten." She laughed a little. "I can't believe it. Two years here and I still use terms from the Community I lived in." She looked at a bracelet on her hand. It had a clock on it. "Well, I need to be going. My favorite show is coming on." She started to walk away.

"Uh, Carmen," Jonas said, "could you come to my room later? I want you to meet a friend of mine."

Carmen smiled. "Okay," she said.

Jonas smiled back, but then realized something. "Oh no," he said, "you won't know which room is mine."

"Don't worry," she said, winking, "I'll know. See you later, Jonas." She walked back into the house. After looking at the stars a bit longer, Jonas headed back into the house as well. He walked back to his room. When he got there, he saw a nameplate on the door, with his name on it, written in golden, cursive letters. His picture was below it. He walked inside, and sat down in the cushioned chair by his desk. He switched the television back on, and flipped through the pictures until he found one he liked. As he watched it, he had happy thoughts about the future. He was going to like it here. He could just feel it. And once his friends came, he would like it even more. Asher, Fiona, Lily, Mother, and Father…they would all be there someday, but until that day came, he would talk to the Giver and Carmen, his first new friend Elsewhere. His life in this paradise had just begun.


End file.
